NEW YORK — Backlash is brewing in New York City ahead of the so-called Jeff Bezos Met Gala Ball, with celebrities set to descend on Manhattan the first Monday of May for the annual star-studded event.

With the ball just three weeks away, posters taking aim at the Amazon founder have begun cropping up all over the Upper East Side, many just steps away from the venue, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Both Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez, are the primary sponsors and honorary co-chairs of this year’s gala, which boasts a theme of “Fashion is Art.”

“The Bezos Met Gala,” one poster reads. “Brought to you by the firm that powers ICE.”

A second says: “The Bezos Met Gala. Brought to you by worker exploitation.”

The protest campaign also earlier this week spread to the subway system with similar posters.

“Jeff Bezos proudly presents: The Met x avoiding taxes,” the latest poster reads.

Despite Bezos’ headlining status, many big names and A-listers are expected to be in attendance — but New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and his wife, Rama, will not be among them, sources told CBS News.

British activist group Everyone Hates Elon is behind the anti-Bezos efforts, which specifically references Amazon’s ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and work conditions for company employees. It also called out the recent documentary Amazon produced about first lady Melania Trump.

“Jeff thinks if he poses with A-listers, the world will forget he avoids taxes and supports Trump,” the group said on Instagram.

“But we all know under Bezos, Amazon powers ICE’s deportation machine,” it continued. “He spent $70 million on Melania’s vanity film to win favor with Trump. He pays so little tax he can send Katy Perry to space. Let’s RUIN his Met Gala.”

Under President Donald Trump’s second administration, ICE made a $25 million purchase of Amazon Web Services’ cloud systems back in September, Forbes reported. According to a previous study commissioned by the Immigrant Defense Project, the agency relies heavily on AWS as its primary cloud storage system.

In addition to its namesake billionaire, Everyone Hates Elon has targeted many others with its viral poster campaigns, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. It has also made Trump’s rumored relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein part of its scope.

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